Chapter 11, The Material Question Summary and Analysis

During the opening of an Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man branch in New York City, a question comes to Gurdjieff about how the Institute makes money and the approximate amount of the annual budget. Gurdjieff responds with a long narrative which his students include in the book, partly from memory and partly from a stenographer's shorthand notes.

He begins by mentioning some of the ridiculous speculations about receiving money from occult sources, the Bolsheviks, or some kind of black magic, including the philosopher's stone purported to turn base metals into gold. Gurdjieff dismisses this all as being the stupidity of idle people. He goes on to give a serious answer to the question, which up until this time he has avoided.

The short answer is that Gurdjieff is a better businessman than most...